Civil service reform most urgent task for govt<\/p>\n
Piet Soeprijadi, Peter Rimmele and Anne-Lise Klausen, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Ross H. McLeod's -- Competition: Key to reform of civil
\nservice two-part article on The Jakarta Post of Aug. 4 and 5
\nis an interesting eye opener that something has to and can be
\ndone to reform the Civil Service.<\/p>\n
However considering the multi-complex, urgent and important
\nproblems the new president is facing, the question is then,
\nshould the upcoming president do it now and if yes how to do it
\nproperly.<\/p>\n
In the recently released 2004 Human Development Report,
\nIndonesia scored low with its human development index (111th out
\nof 177 countries surveyed) below some neighboring countries like
\nthe Philippines and Thailand. On the other side Indonesia is
\nusually among the top league when countries considered to be the
\nmost corrupt ones are compared.<\/p>\n
For a better future of millions of Indonesians the government
\nneeds to invest more in the human development, not only to
\nfulfill its people basic rights, but also to lay foundations for
\neconomic growth. The investment climate is still poor in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
The Civil Service is part of the problem because of
\nunpredictable and low quality services from government
\ninstitutions as well as widespread corruption within the civil
\nservice. The citizens expect high quality services at low costs.
\nOften they receive low quality services at high costs.<\/p>\n
Asked about their civil service a large number of Indonesians
\nwould rather describe it with negative attributes. Focusing
\nmostly on poor service, corruption, collusion, and nepotism
\n(KKN), leave alone the behavior of the civil servants towards the
\nsubjects (the word 'customer' has not found access into the
\nlanguage of the administration).<\/p>\n
All these are leading to public demands for a reform. But so
\nfar there has been little drive for civil service reform in the
\npolitical leadership. The same applies to combating corruption
\nwhat has merely been a political rhetoric.<\/p>\n
Looking for reasons we found out, that the national system of
\nadministration and the civil service system are outdated. Both
\nare not conducive to good governance and improved performance.
\nThe civil service system is not focused on professionalism and
\nperformance. Converting this bureaucracy into a responsive,
\nefficient and professional civil service by adopting new public
\nmanagement theories is the target ahead.<\/p>\n
In comparison the Indonesian civil service is not large. It is
\nmore decentralized than most other services in the region (68
\npercent at the regency level; 9 percent at the provincial level).
\nHowever 23 percent of staff still working in the central
\ngovernment indicate that the decentralization process has not
\nbeen finished yet.<\/p>\n
While proportion of the women is impressive, (reach 40 percent
\nof 3,5 million of civil servants), the education level of the
\ncivil service is worryingly low, performance-oriented training
\nrather poor. Both present serious obstacles to improve
\nperformance.<\/p>\n
The pay system in the Indonesian civil service is quite
\ncomplex and lacks of transparency and simplicity. Low basic
\nsalaries are often said to be the reason civil servants take
\nkickbacks to supplement their incomes.<\/p>\n
The many allowances are the basic fodder of an existing
\npatronage system. To gain access to additional allowances staff
\nmay be required to allegiance to the patron by condoning or
\nsupporting illegitimate activities as well. Thus the take home
\npay is normally very different from the basic salary in many
\ncases.<\/p>\n
Corruption is flourishing in the civil service due to
\ninconsistent law, inadequate discipline, weak sanctions and lack
\nof internal control. Positions and promotions are offered for
\nsale thus not filled through selection on merit.<\/p>\n
The system multiplies corruptions since investment to gain
\nposition need to be recovered. Parliaments fail in their role of
\nexternal overseer, as many recent reports about graft cases in
\nparliaments show.<\/p>\n
Considering the above, the national system for administration
\nand the civil service system need radical reform now!!!<\/p>\n
To start with, as the highest person in the civil service, the
\nnew president must demonstrate strong commitment for reform
\nthrough exemplary actions and behavior as the most professional,
\nefficient, effective and clean civil servant.<\/p>\n
Then someone with integrity, professionalism and commitment
\nfor reform, need to be appointed to lead the process. To ensure
\neffectiveness, he or she needs a support from an inter-
\nministerial team, since one major obstacle to reform is weak
\ncoordination between ministries.<\/p>\n
As leadership makes the difference, next step would be the
\nreplacement of the top echelons of the civil service with men and
\nwomen of the highest quality and integrity through such an open
\nand transparent recruitment. This should become the norm in the
\nrecruitment of new employees, through open and transparent system
\nbased on publicly disclosed criteria of merit.<\/p>\n
Organizational structures should be designed according to
\noperational requirements (form follow functions), not to host a
\nfixed number of positions representing each echelon. After the
\ndecentralization the present structures are full of redundant
\nfunctions and offices, as well as overlapping responsibilities. A
\ncritical review of the government's functions and organizational
\nstructures should also take the increasing privatization of
\npublic service into account.<\/p>\n
Human resource management needs to be improved and modernized
\nif corruption is to be reduced. Competence -- based recruitment
\nand promotion; better and transparent incentive structures;
\nprofessionally classified positions (instead of the current
\nstructural and functional ones) and better training are important
\nelements.<\/p>\n
Make the civil service in Indonesia part of the solution and
\ndon't keep it as a part of the problem.<\/p>\n
The writers are members of KOREKSI (Komite Reformasi
\nKepegawaian Sipil Indonesia), a multi stakeholder forum organized
\nby the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia to promote
\nCivil Service Reform.<\/p>",
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